394- 

He 
Hss 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


HOUSTON  BUSINESS  LEAGUE 


HOUSTON,  TEXAS 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


NEW    SPELLING     USED 


iiiu   North  from   Maiu  Street   and   Capitol   Avenu 


HOUSTON,  TEXAS 


INTRODUCTION. 

X  ORDER  that  the  great  volume  of  ques- 
tions relativ  to  Houston  and  the  adjacent 
territory , known  as  the  Gulf  Coast  Country 
of    Texas,    may    be   redily   anserd,  the 
HOUSTON  BUSINESS  LEAGUE  has  com- 
piled this  book.     Every  precaution  has 
been  taken  to  gard  against  exaggerated 
statements   and   misrepresentation.     To  the  investi- 
gator these  facts  and  figures  are  frankly  submitted. 

You  will  lern  here  why  Houston  stands  as  the 
greatest  cotton  center  in  the  world,  why  she  is  supreme 
as  a  shipping  and  distributing  point,  why  she  has 
gron  and  expanded  by  leaps  and  bounds  and  why  she 
possesses  a  briter  future  than  any  other  city  in  the 
great  Southwest,  towards  which  the  eyes  of  the  nation 
are  now  turnd  as  the  section  destind  to  become  the 
mightiest  welth  producing  territory  in  this  empire  of 
states. 

A  city  long  folloing  the  path  of  progress  at  a 
quiet  but  stedfast  pace,  Houston  has,  in  a  few  years, 
undergon  changes  which  have  brot  her  into  national 
prominence,  especially  as  a  jobbing  and  general  com- 
mercial center.  Houston's  entire  history  has  been 
without  "boom"  characteristics;  and  these  remarkable 
changes  have  arisen  from  such  a  union  of  natural  con- 
ditions and  circumstances  as  seldom  exists.  Alredy 
the  cotton  center  of  the  world,  and  being  in  tuch  with 
all  the  great  trunk  lines  of  the  vast  and  groing  South- 
west, there  was  nothing  needed  to  bring  about  large 


city  groth.  save  a  denser  settlement  of  the  fertil  lands 
in  the  country  of  which  Houston  is  the  natural  con- 
centrating and  distributing  point.  The  discovery 
of  rich  oil  deposits  in  adjacent  fields  has  given  great 
impetus  to  the  business  of  Houston  ,md  the  Coast 
Country,  which  is  now  rapidly  filling  with  new  home- 
seekers  and  business-seekers  from  every  part  of  the 
Union.  The  work  of  improving  the  Houston  Ship 
Channel,  undertaken  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment at  a  cost  of  $4,000,000,  will  soor  admit  to  our 
furnaces,  at  much  lower  cost  than  heretofore,  the  coal 
fuel  available  to  ocean  craft  at  many  ports. 

The  energy  and  frendship  of  the  great  railway  sys- 
tems centering  or  ending  in  Houston,  and  other  potent 
agencies,  hav  helpt  to*  set  before  the  world  the  welth 
of  the  Coast  Country  to  such  an  exten":  that  the  tide 
of  immigration  has  now  set  strongly  in  this  direction. 

The  erly  groth  of  Houston  was  regarded  by  the 
disheartening  calamities  of  the  Civil  War,  with  the 
long  years  of  healing  required  to  put  her  again  on 
good  footing,  under  altogether  changed  conditions,  by 
replacing  with  a  new  generation  of  men  those  who 
lost  their  lives  and  their  hopes  in  battle ;  but  Houston 
has  wholly  triumf t  in  her  second  grot'i ,  and  has  be- 
come the  largest  and  most  firmly  founded  city  of  the 
Southwest.  Kept  together  thru  her  years  of  trial  and 
remaking  by  a  helthy  determination  and  conserva- 
tism, which  alone  could  win  under  the  circumstances, 
Houston  is  now  in  the  day  of  her  power  a  cosmopolitan 
and  enterprising  modern  city,  dominated  by  a  fortu- 
nate combination  of  the  Southern  spirit  and  the  tru 


""'•  .        — — 


fa* 


Government  Work  in  the  Ship  Channel 


Western  spirit,  which  has  made  Texas  the  greatest 
State  of  the  entire  South  and  Southwest.  In  the  past 
fifteen  years  particularly  Houston  has  been  blest  by 
the  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  country — North, 
South,  East  and  West — of  large  numbers  of  vigorus 
and  loyal  people;  and  the  best  elements  of  the  old 
and  the  new  form  a  prosperus,  confident  and  con- 
genial whole.  The  writer  of  this,  a  man  from  the  far 
North,  can  unhesitatingly  say  that  the  newcomer  is 
not  met  here  by  any  spirit  of  sectionalism,  but  finds 
himself,  if  a  good  citizen,  in  an  atmosfere  of  good 
will  and  good  cheer. 

These  conditions,  together  with  other  elements  of 
substantial  strength  and  merit,  some  of  which  appear 
in  the  following  pages,  cannot  fail  to  impress  those 
who  investigate  Houston  and  her  resources  with  the 
fact  that  it  is  Houston's  destiny  to  be  and  remain  for 
all  time  the  transportation,  manufacturing  and  jobbing 
center  of  the  Southwest. 

The  reader  is  referd  to  the  various  paragrafs  upon 
subsequent  pages  for  information  upon  particular  sub- 
jects in  which  he  may  be  interested. 

As  a  Place  of  Residence. 

Aside  from  the  strong  attraction  offerd  in  the  way  of 
business  opportunities,  Houston's  many  advantages 
as  a  residence  city  hav  greatly  aided  her  groth.  The 
wide  and  leafy  appearance  of  the  place,  the  profusion 
of  flowers  and  fresh  vegetables  of  all  varieties  thruout 
the  year,  the  mild  winter  climate,  the  almost  ceaseless 
Gulf  breezes  in  summer,  resulting  in  a  temperature 
and  atmosferic  condition  in  which  sunstroke  is  un- 
known, the  modern  street  paving  and  the  excellent 
street  car  service,  the  many  direct  railway  outlets  to 
all  points  of  the  compass,  the  number  of  beautiful 
driveways  extending  far  into  the  country,  the  un- 


dWpri.T* 

1  ••*  « »j    i<fc^ 


New  Court  House  (Under  Contract) 


Cotton  Exchange  Bilding 

usually  good  "shopping"  facilities,  the  excellent  fire 
protection,  and  various  other  things  of  the  kind,  at 
once  appeal  to  the  visitor  and  homeseeker  as  im- 
portant items  bearing  upon  the  home  question. 

We  shall,  under  appropriate  hedings,  mention  the 
churches,  the  public  and  private  scools,  libraries, 
etc.,  things  of  prime  importance  in  the  make-up  of  a 
residence  city.  The  unequald  advantages  soon  to  be 
offerd  by  the  great  Rice  Institute  for  literary,  artistic, 
technical  and  industrial  education  and  reserch,  will 
bring  a  large  number  of  families  and  individual  stu- 
dents here  for  permanent  residence  and  instruction. 
No  other  city  of  the  entire  South  will  present  an  equal 
attraction  of  this  particular  kind.  Tre  institution 
will  lend  to  Houston  a  tone  and  a  direction  in  the 
higher  things  of  life  such  as  no  city  can  acquire  except 
from  the  possession  of  a  great  institution  of  lerning  and 
culture ;  and  we  refer  to  it  at  greater  length  on  another 
page. 

Population  and  Area. 

WE  DO  NOT  DEPEND  ON  SQUARE  MESURE. 

The  United  States  census  for  1890  gave  Houston  a 
population  of  only  27,557.  In  1900,  with  an  area  of 
nine  square  miles,  just  one-fourth  of  the  area  of  the 
next  largest  city  of  the  State,  the  census  gave  us  44,663. 
Since  the  taking  of  that  census  the  city  limits  hav 
been  extended,  and  the  population  has  been  very 
greatly  increast  by  the  constant  arrival  of  new  resi- 
dents. Based  on  the  recognizd  ratio  of  three  persons 
to  each  name  included  in  the  City  Directory,  in  the 
year  1907  Houston  and  the  connected  suburbs  had  a 
population  of  over  103,000,  and  the  population  may 
therefore  be  conservativly  given  at  100,000,  including 
the  immediate  and  unseparated  suburbs  which  are  a 
part  of  the  daily  life  of  Houston. 

The  new  city  limits  embrace  sixteen  square  miles, 


or  in  all  less  than  44  per  cent,  of  the  area  of    San 
Antonio.     The  Houston  settelment,  irrespectiv  of  the 


and  the  many  paralel   and  intersecting  streets,  the 
territory  is  bilt  up  like  a  city  for  a  mile  and  a  quarter. 


Five  Houston  Hotels 


corporation,  still  extends  far  beyond' the  new  limits 
mentiond;  and  westwardly,  along  Washington  Road 


To  the  east  in  the  territory  of  the  Harrisburg  Road, 
this  is  tru  for  a  greater  distance,  but  the  settelment 


is  less  compact.     The  average  elevation  is  54.1  feet 
above  the  sea.     Mean  high  tide  is  about  1.87  feet. 

Commission  Government. 

HOUSTON'S  MODEL  CHARTER. 

In  July,  1905,  Houston  inaugurated  her  present 
system  of  government,  an  electiv  commission.  A 
mayor  and  four  aldermen,  or  as  they  are  most  com- 
monly designated,  commissioners,  are  elected  to  seiv 
for  a  term  of  two  years.  Upon  the  sholders  of  the 
mayor  rests  largely  the  success  or  failure  of  his  ad- 
ministration. He  is  in  reality  made  the  head  of  the 
affairs  of  the  city,  employing  and  discharging  the  men 
who  fill  the  varius  departments,  and  even  these  de- 
partments are  not  fixt,  it  lying  within  the  discretion 
of  the  mayor  and  commissioners  to  create  such  as  are 
needed  or  do  away  with  those  found  needless.  Houston 
is  operated  in  the  same  manner  as  is  a  great  business 
or  private  corporation.  The  commission  system  was 
not  resorted  to  until  after  serius  debate  and  consid- 
eration and  was  decided  upon  for  the  purpose  of  shield- 
ing the  city  from  mercenary  politics  and  garanteeing 
a  business  administration  of  city  affairs.  The  prac- 
tical test  since  the  first  of  July,  1905,  has  demon- 
strated that  the  pathway  which  Houston  is  blazing 
for  reform  in  municipal  government  in  the  United 
States  shud  find  many  travelers  in  the  future. 

This  electiv  commission  system  is  no  infringement 
upon  suffrage  rights.  The  ballot  is  as  powerful  under 
the  present  charter  as  in  the  days  when  the  profes- 
sional politician  wielded  a  markt  influence.  The 
five  officers  named  are  the  only  ones  made  electivt 
the  mayor  and  four  aldermen.  Under  the  presen- 
system  a  notable  era  of  economy  without  niggardli, 
ness  has  been  usherd  in.  Tax  collections  have  reacht 


City  Hall  and  Market  House 


Avenn  of  Oaks 

an  unprecedented  figure,  altho  the  rate  has  been 
reduced ;  the  sinking  fund  is  groing ;  the  water  works 
have  been  purchast  by  the  city  and  a  complete  dupli- 
cate set  of  machinery  instald;  municipal  bonds  and 
interest  are  promptly  paid ;  the  already  excellent  po- 
lice force  has  improved ;  the  model  fire  department  has 
been  perfected;  surplus  employes  have  been  ousted; 
a  modern  system  of  municipal  accounting  declared  by 
experts  to  be  the  safest  and  most  perfec;  yet  devised, 
instituted  five  years  ago,  has  been  cont:nud  in  force; 
and  all  this  without  jar  or  friction  or  aut  to  disturb 
the  city's  constant  progres. 

The  new  charter  places  in  the  hands  of  the  people  a 
power  so  great  that  no  commission  would  dare  draw 
upon  themselves  its  full  weight.  The  commissioners 
and  mayor  can  regulate  the  rates  and  charges  of  all 
the  public  utilities,  while  the  referendum  places  within 
the  hands  of  the  voters  the  granting  of  important 
franchises. 

During  the  past  year  three  miles  of  sanitary  sewers 
were  bilt,  eight  miles  of  model  vitrifiec  brick  pave- 
ments laid,  many  miles  of  cement  s  dewalks  put 
down  by  property  holders,  four  new  school  houses 
erected,  and  the  city  park  lands  extended,  besides 
scores  of  minor  improvements  of  like  nature,  all  with- 
out a  bond  issue,  and  with  plenty  of  money  left  in  the 
tresury. 

Houston's  Material  Progres. 

In  the  recital  of  actual  progres  Houston  has  achievd 
and  as  pointing  certainly  to  the  fairness  of  the  as- 
sertions here  made,  the  actual  figures,  as  shown  by 
the  public  records,  are  trustworthy  evidence  open  to 
the  investigator. 

In  the  year   ending  September   1,    1907,   the  real 
estate  changing  hands  in  Harris  County,  according  to 
the  records  in  the  office  of  the  County  Clerk,  amounted 
to  over  814.<)n2.;-'4;-'.(H).      Fcr  the  same  period  in  1 
the  total  was  :-,'.). 410. 25 1.00. 

The  records  in  the  office  of  the  City  Engineer  of  the 


Some  Fine  Business  Bildings 


City  of  Houston  show  that  permits  for  permanent  im- 
provements in  the  first  eight  months  of  1907  represent  a 
valuation  of  $2,177,240.00,  these  valuations  being 
about  one-third  of  the  actual  expenditures  in  bilding 
improvements.  The  permits  for  repairs  total 
$411,003.00. 

The  vigorus  groth  of  Houston  is  also  shown  by 
the  assest  valuation  of  property  within  her  limits  for 
the  past  ten  years,  which  increast  from  $22,528,103.00 


Transportation  Facilities. 

A   GREAT   DISTRIBUTING   CENTER. 

The  advantages  of  Houston  as  a  distributing  center 
are  the  foundations  of -her  commercial,  financial  and 
manufacturing  groth.  Among  the  citios  of  the  great 
Central  Southwest  country  she  holds  :n  this  respect 
the  leading  place  as  to  all  classes  of  transportation — 
the  handling  of  freight,  passengers,  mail  traffic,  ex- 


I'jirt  of  the  Gould  Terminals 


in  1898  to  $51,000,000.00  in  1907,  an  increase  of 
nearly  $9,000,000.00  over  the  preceding  year. 

The  State  and  County  valuations  of  all  property  in 
Harris  County,  of  which  Houston  is  the  county  seat, 
increast  from  $26,939,265.00  in  1895  to  over 
$61,000000.00  in  1907. 

The  tax  rate  for  the  City,  County  and  State  is  $2.70 
in  all,  taxable  valuations  averaging  far  belo  actual 
valuations,  but  under  the  newly  enacted  State  law 
valuations  are  hereafter  to  be  in  full,  and  there  will 
be  a  proportionate  reduction  in  the  rate  of  taxation. 


press  traffic,  and  of  telegraf  and  telefone  communica- 
tion as  well.  Houston's  unsurpast  facilities  in  this 
respect  afford  wholesalers,  jobbers  and  manufacturers 
all  that  they  need  to  enable  them  to  bild  up  business 
of  any  size  thruout  the  great  and  groing  territory 
tributary  to  Houston. 

The  great  government  improvement  on  the  Hous- 
ton Ship  Channel  insures  us  for  all  ~ime  the  loest 
freight  rates  by  rail  and  water ;  and  this  is  a  matter 
of  controlling  influence  with  a  wideawake  merchant 
or  manufacturer  seeking  a  new  location.  Rates  to 


and  from  the  eastern  seaboard  territory  are  especially 
lo,  and  may  be  obtaind  by  inquiry  of  the  Houston 
Business  League. 

Houston's  distributing  facilities  are  constantly  un- 
dergoing  improvement  and  extension  to  keep  pace 
with  the  rapidly  groing  trade  of  the  city.  For  in- 
stance, the  Gould  interests  have  recently  made  an 
investment  of  $750,000.00  in  land  and  terminals  along 


Houston  Ship  Channel. 

Houston's  outlet  to  the  sea  is  regarded  by  many  as 
her  greatest  asset  of  the  future.  It  garantees  loest 
freight  rates  and  makes  of  this  city  an  inland  port 
second  to  none  of  the  Gulf  Coast ;  and  the  day  is  near 
when  Houston  will  take  first  rank  as  a  feeding  point 
for  the  vast  Panama  trade  to  open  when  that  channel 


Among  the  Small  Craft 


the  Houston  Ship  Channel,  on  part  of  which  hav  been 
erected  magnificent  railway  bildings  covering  three 
blocks  of  ground;  and  the  Southern  Pacific  System, 
centering  in  Houston,  is  constantly  making  extensiv 
improvements  in  its  magnificent  terminal  facilities, 
as  are  also  the  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  and  Santa 
Fe  Systems.  For  further  information  on  this  subject 
see  the  articles  heded  "Houston  Ship  Channel"  and 
"The  Railroad  Capital  of  the  South." 


links  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific.  The  National  Congress, 
realizing  the  importance_of  the  present  water  carrying 
trade  of  this  city,  has  appropriated  one  million  dollars 
and  approved  plans  for  three  millions  more  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  widening  and  deepening  the  outlet 
from  Houston  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Two-thirds 
of  this  great  public  work  hav  alredy  been  done  and 
the  remainder  will  be  completed  with  as  little  delay 
as  the  magnitude  of  the  project  will  permit.  An 


immens  quantity  of  the  freight  of  the  Trans-Miss- 
issippi territory  now  passes  thru  Houston.  This 
territory,  with  which  we  may  include  the  five  states 
north  of  the  Ohio  River,  is  the  great  producing  section 
of  the  United  States,  furnishing  most  of  the  grain 
and  meat  products  of  the  continent,  the  lumber  of  the 
Central  Southwest  and  the  Northwest,  the  greatest 
variety  and  volume  of  ores,  the  oil  of  Texas  and  the 
Pacific  slope,  the  fruit  and  wine  from  California  and 
other  States,  Texas  cotton,  corn,  cane  and  rice,  and 
from  the  whole  section  an  amount  of  minor  products 
so  vast  in  the  aggregate  as  to  make  the  figures  almost 
incomprehensible. 

The  Gulf  is  the  natural  pathway  from  this  great  sec- 
tion to  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  Houston  is  the 
most  advantageus  point  of  the  territory  for  con- 
centrating, distributing  and  manufacturing  its  pro- 
ducts. The  old  east  and  west  long-haul  routes  hav 
been  able  to  divert  much  freight  from  the  natural 
short  down-haul  routes,  because  of  lack  of  adequate 
and  safe  terminal  and  transferring  facilities  on  the 
Gulf.  Now  that  the  National  Government  has  re- 
sponded to  the  demands  of  this  commerce,  and  we  are 
to  hav  a  secure  inland  deep  water  harbor  several  miles 
long,  affording  on  each  side  of  the  channel  unlimited 
terminal  sites  for  business  of  every  kind,  it  will 
not  b'erlong  until  the  bulk  of  the  products  of  the  We^t 
can  come  thru  Houston. 

The  amount  of  products  of  the  Trans-Mississippi 
country  passing  thru  Houston  is  greatly  increasing 
every  year.  With  these  also  come  the  Pacific  im- 
ports for  the  Central,  Northern  and  Eastern  sections 
of  the  continent,  Mexican  freights  in  transit,  and 
every  variety  of  manufactured  goods,  all  in  rapidly 
growing  quantity  and  valu. 

A  statement  of  the  tonnage  and  valu  of  the  freight 
handeld  on  the  ship  channel  covering  the  movement  of 
.commodities  in  and  out  of  this  port  for  the  year 
ending  August  31,  1907,  is  as  follows: 


Tons 

Cotton  (459,548  bales) 126,375 

Coal 6,750 

Rice 24,608 

Lumber  and  Shingles 82,500 

Sand 161,535 

Shell 30,000 

Cord  Wood 7,250 

Brick 7,250 

Hardware  and  Machinery 7,546 

Grain  and  Feedstuffs .  .  10,000 

Groceries  and  Provisions 7,500 

Oil  and  Gasolin 8,556 

Beer  and  Ice 1 ,800 

Oysters  and  Fish 1,500 

Furniture 800 

Roofing  Paper 404 

Steel  Rails 500 

Hay 300 

Rope 711 

Gravel 150 

Slate 142 

Miscellaneous. .  .  475 


Value 

$26,538,897 

37,125 

1,063,065 

1,050,000 

161,535 

45,000 

35,375 

36,250 

754,600 

200,000 

375,000 

385,000 

126,000 

45,000 

800,000 

43,632 

11.500 

3,000 

9,243 

150 

1,492 

475,000 


This,  tonnage  exprest  in  pounds  mea-is  that  973,- 
304,000  pounds,  or  24,332  carloads  of  110  tons  each, 
of  freight  were  transported  on  Buffalo  Playou  during 
the  year  ending  August  31,  1907. 

The  channel  traffic  is -Already  anything  but  an  idle 
dream,  as  the  above  figures  indicate,  ar  d  the  period 
of  time  that  will  elaps  before  great  ocean  going  vessels 
are  anchord  along  the  Houston  wharvs  is  but  brief. 

The  Railroad  Capital  of  the  South. 

Houston  has  the  most  extensiv  railrcad  terminals 
south  of  St.  Louis.  From  the  railroad  standpoint 
you  reach  Texas  at  Houston,  and  no  Southwestern 
railroad  feels  fully  intrencht  in  the  business  of  the 
Southwest  until  it  has  terminals  here.  The  roads 
actually  centering  or  ending  at  Houston  "iave  a  length 
of  10, 000  miles,  and  the  connecting  systems  more  than 
31,000  miles.  North,  east,  south  and  west,  these  rail 
lines  reach  forth  to  the  most  f ertil  agricultural  secticns 


Totals 486,652     $32,196,864 


Carnegie  Library 

of  Texas  and  the  Southwest,  and  into  the  untild  areas 
most  suited  to  cultivation  and  development.  The 
railways  now  pay  out  in  Houston  more  than  $7,000,- 
000  annually  in  wages  and  salaries. 

Here  are  some  of  the  factors  that  hav  already  made 
Houston  rich  and  strong,  and  are  making  her  ever 
more  so: 

The  Texas  &  Xew  Orleans  Railroad. 

The  Galveston,  Harrisburg  &  San  Antcnio  Railway. 

The  Houston  &  Texas  Central  Railroad. 

The  Xew  York,  Texas  &  Mexican  Railway. 

The  Texas  Transportation  Company. 

The  Galveston,  Houston  &  Northern  Railway. 

The  Houston  East  &  West  Texas  Raihvay. 

The  San  Antonio  &•  Aransas  Pass  Railway. 

The  Santa  Fe  System. 

The  Missouri,  Kansas  &  Texas  Railway. 

The  Galveston,  Houston  &  Henderson  Railroad. 

The  International  &  Great  Northern  Railroad. 

The  Houston  Tap  &  Brazoria  Railroad. 

The  Houston,  Oak  Lawn  &  Magnolia  Park  Railroad. 

The  Houston  Belt  &  Terminal  Railway. 

The  Trinity  &  Brazos  Valley  Railway. 

The  Beaumont,  Sour  Lake  &  Western  Railway. 

The  St.  Louis,  Brownsville  &  Mexico  Railroad. 


These  lines  of  railway  alredy  penetrate,  as  other 
lines  will  soon  do,  sections  of  country  containing  a 
variety  of  main  products  widely  differing  in  feature 
and  development.  Two  of  these  are  cotton  and 
lumber,  which  will  be  separately  mentiond  herein- 
after. 

Texas  rice,  sugar  cane,  sugar,  corn,  hay,  cattle  and 
oil  are  other  important  commodities  of  the  nearby 
territory  which  are  largely  handeld.  As  a  single  item 


country  southwest  of  Houston,  with  its  rice,  sugar, 
cotton,  corn  and  oil. 

The  Cane  Belt  Railroad,  one  of  the  big  Texas  short 
lines,  now  sends  its  business  into  Houston  over  the 
tracks  of  an  allied  system,  the  Santa  Fe,  which  has 
itself  within  the  past  few  months  obtaind  another 
entrance  into  the  city  over  the  tracks  of  the  Galveston, 
Harrisburg  &  San  Antonio  Railway,  and  greatly  in- 
creast  its  terminal  facilities  here. 


Great  Mercantil  and  Industrial  Concerns  and  Great  Terminals 


the  product  of  a  sugar  mill  seventeen  miles  out  from 
Houston  is  for  an  ordinary  year  20,000  tons. 

In  addition  to  this  vast  network  of  railway  lines 
now  pouring  their  immens  business  into  Houston 
in  ever  groing  volume,  the  Gould  interests,  alredy 
represented  here  by  four  lines  in  addition  to  the 
Houston,  Oak  Lawn  &  Magnolia  Park  Railroad, 
which  is  local,  proposes  to  bild  from  Houston  another 
main  feeder  to  connect  with  the  main  Louisiana  line 
of  the  Missouri  Pacific  System,  and  also  has  in  con- 
templation an  important  extension  into  the  rich 


Over  one  million  dollars  is  now  being  expended  by 
the  Houston  Belt  &  Terminal  Company  and  allied 
interests  in  the  construction  of  depot  and  terminal 
facilities  for  these  lines  in  this  city,  the  work  trans- 
forming into  a  busy  railroad  scene  a  section  of  Greater 
Houston  heretofore  used  for  residence  only.  This 
great  system  has  only  recently  (February,  1908)  trans- 
ferd  to  Houston  its  hed  offices  for  the  Southwest, 
which  strengthens  Houston's  unquestionable  right  to 
the  title  at  the  beginning  of  this  article,  "The  Railroad 
Capital  of  Texas." 


At  the  time  of  this  writing  there  are  rumors  and 
reports,  more  or  less  definit,  of  several  new  railway 
enterprises  of  great  importance  to  the  Southwest,  but 
particularly  so  to  Houston.-  Not  from  any  lack  of 
faith  that  these  enterprises  or  similar  ones  will  ere 
long  result  in  new  lines  of  railway  terminating  in 
Houston,  but  because  the  BUSINESSLEAGUE  prefers  to 
state  only  facts  provable,  these  new  enterprises  are 
not  here  referd  to  in  detail.  Even*  one  of  them 
has  for  its  foundation  the  existence  of  plenty  of  ter- 
ritory and  business  to  w*arrant  the  construction  of  a 
railway,  and,  indeed,  to  absolutely  assure  it.  within  a 
short  time  at  all  events,  if  any  of  the  present  plans  fail. 

Cotton  Center  of  the  World. 

As  Texas  is  by  far  the  leading  cotton  state  of  the 
entire  country,  so  Houston  is  the  leading  cotton  city. 
the  home  of  the  natural  fiber.  During  the  year  end- 
ing August  31,  1907,  the  cotton  receipts  for  the  city 
of  Houston  were  2,967.535  bales,  or  about  one-fourth 
of  the  entire  crop  of  the  United  States,  having  a 
valu  of  over  S152.000.000,  while  the  superior  market 
facilities  of  this  cotton  center  forced  competing  mar- 
kets to  cut  down  the  cost  of  handling  chargd  against 
groers  from  $5.00  to  $1.00  per  bale. 

The  leading  cotton  merchants  of  the  world  now 
maintain  branches  in  Houston,  the  many  agents  and 
employes  of  the  cotton  firms  of  the  principal  cotton 
centers  of  America  and  Europe  constituting  a  numerus 
colony  of  wideawake  business  men  of  much  impor- 
tance to  the  city. 

With  such  a  foundation,  Houston  expects  to  be- 
come the  metropolis  of  the  manufactured  product,  as 
she  is  alredy  of  the  raw  material.  Having  cheap  fuel, 
she  is  now  redy  for  the  cotton  mills.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  entire  amount  of  money  invested  in  Houston 
in  plants  for  the  compression  of  cotton  and  for  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  seed  oil  and  cotton  seed  prod- 
ucts is  in  excess  of  $2,000,000. 


Central   Fire  Station 


Electric  Light  and  Power  Plant 

Houston's  Lumber  Interests. 

The  vast  lumber  industry,  represented  most  largely 
by  the  long-leaf  pine  of  this  State  and  of  Western 
Louisiana,  is  tributary  to  Houston  more  t'.ian  to  any 
other  city.  Houston  is  fixedly  the  chief  concentrat- 
ing, distributing  and  supply  point  of  thi^  industry. 
the  volume  and  valu  of  which  may  be  realized  when 
it  is  stated  that  $19,000,000  worth  of  lumber  is  sold 
by  Houston  concerns  annually. 

The  recent  past  has  wittiest  a  great  increase  in  the 
volume  of  lumber  business  and  also  in  the  number  of 
enterprises  that  handel  lumber  exclusivly.  This  is 
due  to  the  present  high  price  and  great  cemand  for 
lumber. 

Xearly  all  the  biggest  lumber  manufacturing  enter- 
prises of  the  State  hav  headquarters  here  and  their 
banking  business  is  also  done  here.  There  are  few 
large  mills  in  East  Texas  in  which  Houston  capital  is 
not  interested. 

The  Texas  forests  include  sixty-one  kinds  of  timber 
of  commercial  value;  and  this  latter  ft.ct,  cupeld 
with  Houston's  superiority  as  a  distributing  center, 
is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  statement  that  Houston 
offers  the  best  location  in  the  entire  Southwest  for 
wood-working  plants  of  all  kinds,  such  as  factories  for 
the  making  of  furniture,  wagons,  buggies^  handels, 
household  articles,  etc. 


Houston  as  a  Manufacturing  Center. 

In  the  groth  of  her  manufacturing  industries  during 
the  ten  years  ending  with  1900,  Houston  led  in  volume 
and  proportion  every  other  trade  center  in  the  South. 
The  United  States  census  for  1900  shows  507  industries, 
an  increase  of  141  per  cent,  over  1890,  with  an  increase 


erners,  cost  of  materials  used  and  valu  of  products. 
The  manufacturing  and  allied  industries  of  Houston 
pay  annually  over  $6,000,000  in  wages. 

What  has  been  said  elsewhere  in  this  booklet  as  to 
railways  and  transportation  is  so  good  an  argument 
in  favor  of  Houston,  as  a  location  for  manufacturing 
and  distributing  business  of  all  kinds,  that  we  desire 


Cotton  Scenes 


of  invested  capital  of  97  per  cent;  and  since  1900,  the 
increase  in  capital,  number  of  industries  and  number 
of  wage  earners  has  been  larger  in  proportion  than 
for  ten  years  prior  to  the  1900  census.  Ten  years 
erlier,  as  shown  by  the  census  tables,  Dallas  was  in 
this  respect  far  ahed  of  Houston,  then  the  second 
manufacturing  city  in  the  State.  Now  Houston  leads 
every  other  city  in  the  State  considerably  in  capital 
invested,  number  of  establishments,  number  of  wage 


to  again  refer  to  those  subjects  all  readers  interested 
in  any  business  of  such  character,  especially  those 
seeking  new  locations.  There  is  absolutely  no  city 
in  the  United  States  today  offering  better  inducements 
to  manufacturers  than  Houston,  and  capitalists  con- 
templating embarking  in  business  in  a  new  field 
should  safegard  their  best  interests  by  giving  this  city 
a  thoro- inspection. 

The  great  increase  in  the  manufacturing  industries 


of  Houston  in  the  last  few  years  is  due  to  cheap  fuel, 
cheap  sites,  unrivald  shipping  facilities  and  enormus 
distributing  territory.  Hevily  stimulated  in  popu- 
lation by  the  groth  of  its  supporting  territory,  the 
groth  of  the  city's  business  has  been  far  beyond  the 
increase  in  population.  Houston  has  markets  that 
will  richly  support  many  times  the  present  number  of 
manufacturing  enterprises. 

There  is  a  demand  on  the  city  for  manufactures  in 
every  line,  but  especially  in  the  lighter  and  finer 
articles,  as  well  as  in  glass,  crockery,  pottery,  cand 
goods,  woodenware,  furniture,  vehicles,  farm  ma- 
chinery, clothing,  dry  goods  in  general,  and  more 
especially  cotton  goods  of  all  kinds.  In  all  of  these 
lines  the  raw  material  is  at  hand  to  supply  the  de- 
mand of  the  manufacturer. 

Houston  affords  a  wide  range  in  the  choice  of  sites 
"for  manufactories,  with  her  numerus  railroads  and 
marine  shipping  lines;  and  the  recently  charterd 
Houston  Belt  &  Terminal  Railway  Company  unites 
these  and  adds  materially  to  the  availability  of  loca- 
tions. Manufacturers  who  desire  information  as  to 
cheap  sites  are  invited  to  call  at  the  office  of  theBusi- 


The  Rice  Industry 


A    H  i-\  >    Hardware  House 

NESS  LEAGUE,  or  to  write  to  the  Secretary,  who  will 
be  glad  to  furnish  required  data. 

An  index  to  this  city's  groth  in  trade  and  com- 
mercial conditions  is  found  in  the  charter  record  in 
the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  That  record  for 
the  year  ending  August  31,  1907,  shows  146  new  en- 
terprises were  charterd  in  Houston  between  that 
date  and  August  31,  1906,  with  a  total  capital  stock 
amounting  to  $14,836,375,  while  twenty -eight  Hous- 
ton corporations  increast  their  capitalization  $3,340,- 
000.  In  this  respect  Houston  leads  all  other  Texas 
cities. 

Houston  the  Rice  Center. 

A   RICH  STAPLE. 

As  alredy  shown,  Houston  has  risen  to  first  place 
in  the  commerce  of  the  Southwest.  By  reason  of  her 
location  and  her  union  with  so  many  lints  of  railway, 
Houston  taps  directly  all  of  the  broad  coast  country 
and  its  vast  "hinterland"  of  fertil  prairie.  Altho  the 
industry  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  the  cultivation  of  rice 
has  gon  far  beyond  the  experimental  stage. 

In  1895,  when  the  cultivation  of  rice  in  Texas  was 
wholly  an  experiment,  the  crop  of  the  State  was 
planted  on  2,000  acres.  The  experience  of  rice  farm- 
ers since  then  has  been  so  satisfactory  that  the  acreage 
has  increast  stedily  and  rapidly,  and  the  Texas  rice 
crop  of  1907  came  from  something  over  250,000  acres. 
There  is  a  total  canal  mileage  in  the  Houston  rice 
territory  of  844  miles,  in  addition  to  the  many  large 
farms  that  are  supplied  with  abundance  of  water  from 
private  wells. 

The  government  statistics  gave  the  Texas  crop  for 
1906  as  2,107,134  bags,  on  approximately  230,000 
acres.  Conditions  in  1907  were  such  that  it  was  thot 
the  yield  wud  be  short,  but  these  conditions  were 
relievd,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  yield  off  the 
250,000  acres  was  at  least  equal  to  the  yield  off  230,000 


acres  in  1906,  altho  at  this  writing  final  figures  are  not 
at  hand.  The  highest  price  paid  in  1906  for  No.  1, 
both  Honduras  and  Japan,  was  about  $3.90.  During 
the  year  1905  the  price  went  as  high  as  $4.25  for  first 
grades.  This  was  caused  by  a  short  production,  due 
to  the  decreast  acreage. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Texas  crop  isnowhandeld  by 
the  Houston  market,  and  this  will  always  be  the  case, 
no  matter  what  proportions  the  cultivation  of  rice 
shall  reach,  because  the  unequald  facilities  here  af- 
forded must  make  and  keep  Houston  the  center  of 
distribution  and  sale  for  rice,  as  they  hav  alredy 
done  for  cotton,  lumber  and  other  important  products. 


Houston's  gross  bank  clearings  as  certified  by  the 
Manager  of  the  Houston  Clearing  House  are  set  out 
as  follows: 

1901 $  466,426,159 

1902 602,931,516 

1903 696,928,866 

1904 663,672,543 

1905 763,757,337 

1906 1,012,499,099 

1907....  i 1,125,856,913 

These  institutions  are  not  only  redy  to  encourage 
legitimate  enterprises  on  the  part  of  citizens  now  en- 
gaged in  business,  but  they  are  on  the  alert  for  some- 
thing new  to  which  they  can  lend  financial  assistance. 


A  New  and   Important   Factory 


Houston  has  four  rice  mills  with  a  capacity  of  4,500 
bags  per /lay,  and  the  largest  exclusiv  rice  elevator  in 
the  rice  belt. 

Banks  and  Banking. 

Houston's  groth  along  all  lines  is  reflected  in  her 
banks,  the  certain  barometers  of  trade  and  material 
progres.  The  stability  of  these  institutions  is  ada- 
mantin.  In  the  panic  of  1907  this  city  did  not  witnes 
the  failure  of  a  single  one  of  her  national  or  state  in- 
stitutions, and  never  for  one  moment  did  there  exist 
a  feeling  of  uneasiness.  Accommodations  were  but 
little  restricted  thruoutthe  trubelsome  period,  and  the 
day  the  New^York  banks  announced  that  their  scare 
was  over  there  was  shipt  from  Houston  $200,000  in 
gold  from  one  of  her  State^banks,  indicating  the  ample 
protection  afforded  depositors. 


The  unusually  strong  lending  capacity  of  Houston 
banking  institutions  makes  it  as  easy  for  reputable 
merchants,  manufacturers  and  other  business  men  to 
secure  needed  funds  in  Houston  as  in  any  city  in 
America. 

In  bildings  and  equipment  the  Houston  banks  are 
at  the  front;  the  handsome  structures  occupied  by 
the  First  National  and  Commercial  National  and  the 
new  home  of  the  Houston  Land  &  Trust  Company 
and  Lumberman's  National  Bank  exciting  the  admira- 
tion of  every  visitor  to  the  city. 

In  August,  1905,  a  new  State  banking  law  went  into 
effect.  This  law  is  at  once  liberal  to  and  watchful  of 
the  institutions  founded  under  its  provisions.  It  cre- 
ates a^wider  field  than^that  open  to  the  National 
banks  ^and  .makes  available  sources  of  revenu  for 
banking  and  trust  companies  heretofore  denied. 


Street  Car 

HOUSTON    IS    THE    RAILROAD    CAPITAL    AND    C 


A   Scene  in  the  S 


EARING    HOUSE    OF    THE    GREAT    SOUTHWEST 


Educational  Advantages. 

The  public  scool  facilities  of  Houston  are  most  ex- 
cellent. There  are  thirty-four  public  scool  bildings, 
over  14,594  children  of  scolastic  age,  the  largest  scool 
population  in  the  State,  and  228  teachers,  occupying 
214  rooms.  Additions  are  rapidly  provided,  from 
time  to  time,  on  account  of  the  increasing  demand 
upon  existing  facilities.  Adequate  appropriation  is 
made  in  February  of  each  year  by  the  city  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  scools,  and,  in  addition  to  this, 
there  is  the  per  capita  payment  by  the  State  of  about 
$5.00  annually.  There  are  also  in  Houston  thirty -four 


the  State,  and  of  two  excellent  musical  col'  eges,  Diehl's 
Conservatory  of  Music  and  the  Houston  Conservatory 
of  Music ;  besides  which  there  are  the  nurses'  training 
scool  of  St.  Joseph's  Infirmary,  the  Barnett  School, 
and  five  modern  business  and  commercial  scools. 
The  Rice  Institute,  the  greatest  of  our  educational 
establishments,  is  treated  fully  in  the  next  article. 

Texas  has  the  largest  permanent  scooi  fund  in  the 
Union,  being  more  than  $50,000,000,  including  the 
funds  of  the  State  University  and  the  other  State  edu- 
cational institutions,  Of  this  approximately  $34,000,- 
000  are  in  Texas  county  and  city  bonds  and  land  notes, 
and  the  remainder  chiefly  in  lands. 


A  SI 75.OOO  Church 

private  educational  institutions,  mostly  of  small  size, 
but  a  number  take  high  rank  in  the  State  and  South. 
St.  Thomas  College  for  young  men  and  boys  has  but 
recently  completed  a  college  bilding  and  dormitories, 
involving  an  outlay  of  many  ^thousands  of  dollars. 
The  Dominican  Sisterhood  has^  lately  established  St. 
Agnes  Academy,  for  the  education  of  girls  and  young 
women,  with  a  magnificent  college  bilding  occupying 
a  splendid  site,  broad  grounds  and  ideal  location. 

Houston  is  also  the  home  of  the  Texas  Dental  Col- 
lege, the  most  complete  and  modern  institution  of  the 
kind  in  the  South,  and  the  only  one  of  importance  in 


S20O.OOO  Y.   M.  C.  A.  Bilding 

Rice  Polytechnic  Institute. 

Plans  are  now  under  consideration  for  the  erly 
construction  of  the  William  Marsh  Rice  Institute  for 
the  advancement  of  Literature,  Science  and  Art.  On 
December  29,  1907,  Prof.  Edgar  Odell  Lovett,  of 
Princeton  University,  who  possesses  an  enviable  rec- 
ord among  the  country's  educators,  was  selected  as 
the  hed  of  this  great  institution.  Under  his  direction 
this  important  college  will  be  organized.  The  Insti- 
tute was  founded  in  the  year  1892  by  the  late  William 
Marsh  Rice,  of  New  York  City,  who  endowd  it  with 


A  New  Car  Wheel  Plant 

(Houston  has  two  great  plants  of  this  kind) 


A  Great  New  Steel  Plant 

(Showing:  begrinninjr  of  additional  construction) 


his  promissory  note,  payable  at  his  deth,in  the  sum  of 
$200,000.  Policing  this  he  made  during  his  life 
additions  to  the  endowment  fund  consisting  of  a  tract 
of  six  acres  of  land  in  the  City  of  Houston,  now  worth 
about  $100,000;  nearly  10,000  acres  of  pasture  and 
agricultural  lands  in  Jones  County,  Texas,  worth 
about  $10.00  per  acre;  the  Rice  Hotel  property  in  the 
center  of  the  city,  worth  about  $800,000,  and  two 
bodies  of  hevy  timber  lands  in  Louisiana,  aggregating 
48,000  acres,  worth  about  $3,000,000. 

In  addition  to  these  gifts,  which  Mr.  Rice,  joined 
by  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Baldwin  Rice,  made  to  the  en- 
dowment fund  of  the  Rice  Institute,  his  will  bequeaths 


tration;  a  museum  of  the  materials  of  the  arts, 
sciences,  trades  and  commerce,  in  their  raw  state,  and 
in  their  succesiv  proceses  and  stages  c  f  manufacture 
and  use;  and  a  great  laboratory  for  demonstration 
and  experiment  in  teaching  and  lectures. *\ 

Tuition  will  be  free  and  open  to  all,  non-sectarian 
and  non-partisan ;  but  residents  of  the  C  ity  of  Houston 
will  hav  first  right  of  entrance.  Afte-'i Houston,  res- 
idents of  any  other  part  of  the  State  of  Texas'will  be 
admitted  to  the  benefits  and  enjoyments  of  the  in- 
stitute. 

The  William  M.  Rice  Institute,  witl  its  very  large 
endowment  fund,  is  easily  the  welthicst  educational 


A  Part  of  a  Great  Car  Wheel   Manufactory 


the  bulk  of  his  estate  "unto  the  Wm.  M.  Rice  Institute 
for  the  Advancement  of  Literature,  Science  and  Art. 
a  corporation  domiciled  in  the  City  of  Houston,  in 
Harris  County,  Texas." 

Putting  all  these  gifts  together,  the  endowment  fund 
will  reach  a  sum  in  excess  of  $6,000,000  at  present 
valuations. 

This  institute  is  to  be  a  polytechnic  scool  for  males 
and  females,  designd  to  giv  instruction  on  the  ap- 
plications of  science  and  art  to  the  practical  occupa- 
tions of  life.  It  will  establish  and  maintain  a  free 
library  and  reading  room,  and  galleries  of  art;  com- 
plete collections  of  apparatus  and  models  for  illus- 


institution,  public  or  private,  in  the  entire  South.  Its 
important  bearing  upon  the  destinies  of  the  city  so 
fortunate  as  to  be  its  home  will  be  appreciated  by  in- 
telligent people  everywhere. 

Churches,  Libraries,  Societies  and  Clubs. 

As  to  churches,  all  the  important  denominations 
are  represented;  the  bildings  are  creditable  in  arki- 
tecture  and  ample  in  size,  and  propoi  tionate  to  the 
welth  and  population  of  the  city.  One  of  these 
church  edifices  is  the  largest  in  the  entire  South,  and 
compares  favorably  with  the  most  costly  churches  in 


A  Group  of  Good  Apartment  Bildings 


the  great  cities  of  the   North.     The  churches  keep 
pace  always  with  the  general  groth  of  the  city. 

Houston  has  a  magnificent  public  library,  endowd 
in  part  by  Andrew  Carnegie,  others  having  made 
liberal  gifts  for  a  Juvenil  Library  and  a  Western  His- 
torical Librarv. 


The  recently  completed  home  of  the  Thalian  Club 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  club  houses  in  the  entire 
South,  reflecting  the  taste  and  culture  of  its  mem- 
bers. 

At  the  corner  of  Fannin  Street  and  McKinney 
Avenue  is  the  magnificent  $200,000  Y.  M.  C.  A.  bild- 


Elevator  and  Rice  Mill  Scenes 


All  of  the  important  secret  orders  are  here,  with 
large  membership  rolls;  and  there  are  many  useful, 
activ  and  interesting  private  clubs  of  every  kind  and 
character,  some  of  the  latter  having  expensiv  bildings 
of  their  own. 


ing,   the  funds  for  the   construction  of  which  were 
raisd  in  a  campain  of  but  two  weeks  duration. 

One  of  Houston's  citizens,  George  H.  Hermann, 
has  recently  donated  a  block  of  ground  and  $50,000 
for  the  erection  of  a  Charity  Hospital. 


A  New  Oil  Plant,  Showing  Shipping  Facilities 


A  Group  of  Factories 


The  Houston  Press. 

_Houston  has  thirty -two  newspapers  and  periodicals, 
two  of  these  being  daily  papers,  sixteen  weeklies,  two 
semi-weeklies,  six  monthlies  and  one  semi-monthly. 


Besides  the  papers  devoted  chiefly  to  general  news 
and  comment,  this  list  includes  publications  in  the 
interest  of  ethics,  education,  religion,  general  agri- 
culture, the  rice  industry,  the  lumber,  cotton  and 
kindred  trades,  medical  science,  sporting,  truck  groing 


Main  Street  From  Franklin  Avenu 


Some  Fine  Churches 


and  shipping,  wit  and  humor  and  insurance.  The 
Houston  Daily  Post  is  the  leading  morning  paper  of 
the  State,  and  the  Houston  Daily  Chronicle  occupies 
the  same  position  among  the  evening  papers. 


Kew  Government  Bilding. 

POSTOFFICE   STATISTICS. 

Houston's  posto'rice  is  perhaps  one  of  the  surest 


Some  of  the  Finer  Residences  of 
Houston 


indices  to  her  groth  and  progres.  The  following  table 
of  postoffice  receits  for  the  past  seven  years,  being 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30  in  each  case,  is 
worthy  of  careful  reading: 

1901 $118,180.93 

1902 143,730.92 

1903 168,514.78 

1904 194,102.44 

1905 210,456.34 

1906 229,897 . 63 

1907 292,114.35 

In  order  to  provide  adequate  facilities  for  the  hand- 


City  Drainage  and  Sewerage. 

We  have  a  first-class  modern  systerr-  for  disposing 
of  the  sewage,  with  forty-six  miles  of  se.ver  mains  and 
condits.  The  drainage,  has  been  much  improved  in 
the  past  few  years,  and  further  great  improvements 
will  soon  be  undertaken.  An  inexausiible  supply  of 
pure  artesian  water,  suitable  for  all  nanufacturing 
and  household  uses,  is  easily  obtainable  in  any  part 
of  Houston  at  depths  of  from  500  to  1 ,000  feet,  and 
the  water  works  system  furnishes  this  thruout  the 
city.  The  surface  of  the  ground  upon  which  the  city 
stands  has  sufficient  elevation  to  be  craind  at  mod- 


Scene  at   Sam   Houston  Park 


ling  of  this  rapidly j^roing  business,  Congress  has  ap- 
propriated the  sum  of  $400,000  for  the  construction 
of  a  modern  Federal  bilding  in  this  city.  In  addition 
to  the  sum  appropriated  for  the  bilding,  there  was 
appropriated  $120,000  with  which  a  block  of  ground 
was  purchast  near  the  center  of  the  city.  Before  this 
issu  of  the  League's  booklet  is  exausted  the  govern- 
ment will  begin  the  erection  of  a  splendid  home  for 
the  postoffice,  as  well  as  the  offices  of  the  collector  of 
this  port,  the  United  States  District  Court  and  all 
Federal  officers.  Bids  hav  alredy  been  accepted  and 
the  work  is  to  be  rusht,  because  of  the  crying  need 
for  even  the  necessary  room  to  accommodate  the 
postal  business  of  this  rapidly  groing  city. 


erate  expense,  yet  is  sufficiently  smooth  to  be  well 
suited  to  all  kinds  of  local  carrying,  especially  the 
hauling  of  hevy  merchandise,  which,  in  a  commercial 
city,  is  of  much  importance. 

Streets  and  Roads. 

The  city  government  has  paved  the  entire  main 
business  part  of  the  city  with  asfalt  or  paving  brick, 
an  aggregate  of  forty -four  miles,  and  within  the  past 
three  years  has  expended  over  $325,000  in  improve- 
ments in  the  more  important  streets  leading  to  every 
section  of  the  city.  In  addition  to  this,  Harris  County, 
of  which  Houston  is  the  center,  has  recently  expended 
about  $700,000  in  making  permanent  and  first-class 
country  roadways  leading  from  the  city  in  all  direc- 


Some  i>i   the  Public  Scools 


tions.  The  importance  of  this  need  not  be  pointed 
out,  as  it  will  bejseen  by  all  that  these  modern  scien- 
tific roads  must  be  of  unmesurd  valu,  alike  to  city 
and  county.  An  additional  fund  of  $500,000  has 
been  pledgd  to  -be  expended  in  furthering  road  and 
bridge  improvements^thruout  the  county,  this  special 
bond  issu  having'just  been  voted,  along  with  a  bond 


issu  for  $500,000  for  the  construction  of  a  new  county 
court  house  to  accommodate  the  three  district  courts, 
the  county  court  and  the  various  county  offices. 

Climate  and  Health. 

Many  of  our  Northern  frends  who  hav  not  spent  a 
summer  in  Texas  think  that   our   summers  are    op- 


Infirmaries 

presivly  warm;  but  this  is  an  error.  The  thermom- 
eter has  never  been  known  to  record  a  higher  temper- 
ature in  this  section  of  the  country  than  it  does  in 
many  Northern  cities  every  year. 

A  record  kept  for  the  last  thirty  years  shows  the 
mean  annual  temperature  to  be  69  degrees;  in  July, 
SO  to  85  degrees;  in  January,  55  to  65  degrees;  maxi- 
mum, 95  to  100  degrees;  minimum,  20  to  30  degrees 
above  zero. 

The  average  rainfall  is  about  the  same  as  in  Illinois 
and  Missouri.  The  prevailing  winds  are  south  and 
southeasterly. 

The  average  annual  deth  rate  in  Houston  for  the 
past  ten  years  has  been  about  15  per  1,000,  which  is 
belo  the  average  deth  rate  of  cities  of  like  popula- 
tion. 

There  is  no  more  helthful  city  in  the  United  States 
than  Houston,  the  glorius  Gulf  breezes,  the  excellent 


sewerage  system,  the  semi-outdoor  life  and  the  general 
sanitary  conditions  affording  relief  frorr  diseases  that 
afflict  many  other  places. 

Draining  the  Gulf  Coast  Country. 

Nineteen  hundred  and  seven  has  seen  the  beginning 
of  a  general  movement  to  drain  Texas  Gulf  Coast  lands. 
Operating  under  the  law  enacted  by  the  Texas  legis- 
lature in  the  winter  of  1906-7,  the  taxpayers  are  form- 
ing local  drainage  districts  and  opening  public  drains 
that  will  carry  off  the  surplus  rainfall  of  the  winter 
reason.  This  is  a  most  excellent  system,  as  districts 
whe  e  such  drains  are  needless  are  not  required  to  pay 
part  of  the  expense,  and  it  is  wholly  within  the  con- 
trol of  the  different  localities.  Such  drainage  in  every 
case  doubles  or  triples  the  market  valu  of  the  land. 
This  Gulf  Coast  land,  as  rich  as  any  that  lies  out  of 
dcors,  is  capable  of  producing,  when  draind,  winter 
fruit  and  garden  truck  as  fine  as  any  grown  in  Florida 
or  Southern  California.  Alredy  a  large  and  profit- 
able business  of  this  kind  has  been  bilt  up  in  the  ter- 
ritory tributary  to  Houston.  Men  are  making  a  good 
living  and  putting  money  in  the  bank  with  their 
ernings  from  five  and  ten-acre  farms.  There  is  so 
much  land  available,  and  so  few  people  on  it,  thus  far, 
that  land  values  are  still  lo.  The  opening  of  the  year 
1908,  however,  has  witnest  a  tremendus  inflo  of 
home-seekers  eagerly  examining  and  buying  these 
coast  fruit  and  truck  lands.  Values  ire  rising,  and 
it  is  certain  that  here  in  the  Houston  country  the  ex- 
perience of  Southern  California  is  rap  dly  to  be  re- 
peated. Lands  that  are  selling  for  from  $10  to  $20 
an  acre  today  will,  without  a  dout,  be  made  worth 
s.~>()()  an  acre  thru  the  development  cf  orange,  fig, 
lemon,  grape-fruit  and  other  orchards,  and  thru  the 
groth  of  the  winter  garden  trucking  business,  inside 
of  ten  years.  What  can  be  done  ha^  been  shown 
beyond  question  by  enterprising  individuals  during 
the  ten  years  last  past.  For  example:  R.  H.  Bush- 
way  bot  200  acres  of  raw  land  at  Algo;,,  twenty -nine 
miles  south  of  Houston  on  the  Santa  Fe,  seven  years 
ago.  He  paid  $22.50  an  acre  for  it.  He  has  made  it 
worth  an  average  of  $400  an  acre,  draining  it  and 
planting  fruits  and  flowers.  Many  others  thruout  the 
Gulf  Coast  Country  hav  done  as  well.  The  drainage 
law,  opening  a  way  by  which  draingae  can  be  got  at 
lo  cost  and  on  easy  terms,  makes  certain  the  de- 
velopment of  the  whole  region  upon  the  same  scale. 
It  is  today  the  best  opportunity  for  investment  in 
productiv  lands  on  the  whole  American  continent. 
Houston,  as  the  chief  shipping  center  of  this  region,  is 
rapidly  becoming  a  clearing  house  for  a  rich  trade  in 
these  products. 

Street  Railways. 

Houston  has  an  excellent  and  thoroly  modern 
electric  street  railway  system,  embracing  fifteen  routes 
and  covering  over  sixty-five  miles  of  streets.  In  ad- 
dition to  rapid  extension  of  lines  much  attention  has 
been  given  to  betterment  of  equipment,  and  the  double 


Park  and  Driveway   Scenes  in 
Houston 


truck  cars  are  the  same  as  to  be  found  in  the  large  and 
progressiv  centers  of  the  country.  Tunnels  and  sub- 
ways have  been  constructed,  carrying  the  lines  under 
the  more  dangerus  railroad  crossings,  and  the  Hous- 
ton Electric  Company  has  completed  an  elaborate 
system  of  car  sheds  and  barns  with  accompanying 
repair  shops,  the  outlay  in  that  direction  being  more 
than  $80,000. 

The  No-Tsu-Oh  Carnival. 

Each  recurring  November  witneses  a  festival  in 
Houston  which  is  unique.  It  has  no  counterpart  in 
all  the  United  States.  It  has 
a  tuch  of  the  New  Orleans 
.  Mardi  Gras  and  of  the  once 
popular  street  fair  of  the 
Xorth,  and  yet  is  neither. 
There  has  been  formd  what 
is  known  as  the  No-Tsu-Oh 
Carnival  Association ,  with 
abundant  capital;  and  each 
fall,  under  its  supervision,  an 
entire  week  is  given  over  to 
fun  and  frolic  upon  the  streets 
of  the  city  and  within  the  in- 
closure  where  most  of  the  spe- 
cial shows  and  amusement  de- 
vices are  centerd.  Crowds 
throng  the  streets  and  engage 
in  confetti  battles  and  pranks 
that  turn  day  and  night  into 
one  grand  recess  from  every- 
day cares.  A  gorgeus  illumi- 
nated night  parade  follows  the 
triumfal  entry  of  the  carnival 
king  into  the  city,  and  thru- 
out  the  week  fantastic  pa- 
geants and  other  demonstra- 
tions of  varius  and  unusual 
character  hold  the  attention  of  the  populace  and  the 
thousands  of  visitors  who  flock  to  the  city  to  take 
part  in  the  jollity.  The  royal  ball  of  King  Nottoc, 
monarch  of  the  carnival,  is  a  State  society  function 
that  for  richness  and  splendor  ranks  with  the  notable 
amusement  events  of  the  country. 


Other  Advantages. 

There  is  sound  reason  for  every  step  in  advance 
that  the  City  of  Houston  has  taken  since  her  birth. 
Our  magnificent  shipping  facilities  are  but  the  out- 
groth  of  the  situation,  which  makes  Houston  the 
logical  distributing  center  of  the  great  Southwest,  the 
key  to  land  and  sea.  Here  water  commerce  greeted 


Pencil  Factory  Scenes 


the  railroad  projector,  and  the  resultart  groth  was 
inevitable. 

Surrounding  Houston  is  a  magnificent  farming  sec- 
tion. First  it  was  the  ideal  grazing  country.  It  re- 
mains such  today,  but,  agricultural  damands  hav 
demonstrated  the  great  productivness  of  the  soil,  and 
the  plow  is  driving  the  herds  before  it.  Rice,  cotton, 
sugar  cane,  oats,  corn  and  potatoes  are  making  the 
farmer  rich  and  Houston  the  center  of  £  thickly  set- 
teld  and  rapidly  developing  agricultural  section.  Di- 
versification has  been  the  cry  of  the  experts  to  the 
farmer  and  planter  of  the  South,  and  diversification 
finds  its  truest  exposition  in  the  splerdid  farming 
counties  surrounding  Houston 
and  thruout  the  Gulf  Coast 
Country.  Truck  : arming  is  an 
industry  of  impDrtance,  and 
Houston  is  the  market  and 
shipping  center. 

The  last  six  years  hav  wit- 
nest  the  development  in  Tex- 
as of  a  series  of  oil  fields  that 
hav  taken  the  lead  in  all  the 
world  in  point  o~  production ; 
and  these  oil  fields  are  supply- 
ing Houston  with  the  cheapest 
of  fuel  for  manufacturing  pur- 
poses. Texas  recently  pro- 
duced the  greatest  yield  of 
crude  oil  ever  credited  to  a 
single  state  in  a  single  year. 
Houston  is  in  the  very  heart 
and  center  of  the  oil  produc- 
ing district,  the  great  Humble 
field  being  in  Harris  County 
and  but  seventee  n  miles  from 
Houston;  it  is  a. so  the  home 
of  most  of  the  welthy  oil  op- 
erators in  this  territory. 

New  lines  of  railway,  the 

rice  and  kindred  agricultural  industries,  the  govern- 
ment harbor  work,  the  concentration  o:\  the  lumber 
industries,  the  incoming  of  welthy  farriers  and  in- 
vestors from  every  part  of  the  country,  new  industrial 
enterprises  and  many  other  important  elements  hav 
enterd  into  the  interesting  tale  of  progres.  Inflated 
claims  and  unfair  advertising  hav  not  been  resorted 
to.  The  whole  story  is  one  of  solid  facts  and  legiti- 
mate business  that  speak  for  themselves.  These  facts 
hav  for  several  years  spoken  so  clearly  that  they  hav 
begotten  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  Houston  the 
conviction  that  theirs  is  to  become  n  great  city. 
This  conviction  is  shared  by  the  state  at  large  and 
by  the  Southwest  generally,  and  is  so  fi-m  and  wide- 
spred  that  it  has  become  an  asset  of  much  importance 
in  the  groth  of  the  city. 


Anyone  desiring  a  copy  of  this  pamflet  can  obtain  one  by  addressing  a  letter  to — 


HOUSTON  BUSINESS  LEAGUE, 

HOUSTON,  TEXAS. 


W.  H.  COYLE  &  CO..  PHI: 


